AT ENGLISH ROYAL SHOW

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29952, 13 October 1962, Page 6

AT ENGLISH ROYAL SHOW

MRS J. WILLAN. an Ayrshire cattle breeder of Puaha, three miles from Little River, is shown with her husband at the Royal Show at Newcastle-on-Tyne in England this year. Mrs Willan won a return air trip to Britain and back for her hueband and herself in a radio competition. The horse in the picture is a quarterbred Percheron ridden by a mounted policeman of the Newcastle Police Force. With a hired car Mr and Mrs Willan travelled more than 3000 miles in England and Scotland attending leading agricultural show’s and visiting Ayrshire cattle and thoroughbred. Highland pony and Fell pony studs. Mrs Willan was delighted that the Ayrshires won the Burke Cup for inter-dairy breed competition at the Royal. The champion bull and co* ot each breed took part in this competition. The Ayrshire breed had had a wonderful season in Britain she said The breed team had won the Bledisloe Cup at the National Dairy Show in London, in a competition in which production is taken into account, for the twelfth time, a beautiful Ayrshire cow had won the competition for the greatest production of milk per animal, and the breed had for the second time In succession won the new inspection shield.

Mrs Willan was interested to the Dexter cattle that she saw for the first time in Britain. She said that they were very small. A mature animal was only about the size of a normal yearling, but they were hardy and very good producers for their size. Ten days before the Royal Show, which is a veritable canvas city with even grandstands made of canvas, Mrs Willan said that a gale struck the area ripping about 96 per cent of the canvas beyond repair. The show, covering 150 acres, not including the car park, had, however, opened as though nothing had happened.

At the Royal Show and again at the White City, Mrs Willan saw the noted jumper. Merely a Monarch, on which Miss Drummond-Hay had put a price Of £25X00 when American buyers showed ininterest in the horse. Some

of the mares that she had seen at thoroughbred studs had been valued at up to 20.000 guineas, she said.

Mrs Willan was interested in the way that pigs were shown. The animals were driven through the crowds by their handlers into the judging ■The Englishman makes a great job of his show stock—be really knows how to turn stock out.” she said.

For the next seven years. Mrs Willan said, the Royal Show would be on a permanent site in Warwickshire. A grandstand was already erected there.

One of the most popular shows in Britain among exhibitors was the Yorkshire show at Harrogate, said Mrs Willan. It w« one of the few shows in the country with a permanent showground and it was obviously well managed with plenty of money. Where exhibitors sent their stock into the show they had their entrance fees refunded. These were only retained where stock entered were not shown. The show also had a very fine cattle pavilion with a separate stall for each animal with 3ft high concrete partitions about sin thick.

Mr and Mrs Willan visited Mr Robert Dunlop, of Castle Douglas, a noted Galloway and Ayrshire breeder who judged at the Christchurch show a few years ago, and Mr John Murray, of Wigtonshire. who judged Ayrshires at Christchurch three years ago. They also stayed with Mr and Mrs Graham Fraser who were formerly at the top of Le Bona Bay and are now farming near Dundee. Mr Fraser returned to Scotland to take over the management of his father's property.